Caring Times News

Posted on July 30th, by geoff in Caring Times. Comments Off on Delay to cap on care costs is outrageous, says Anchor chief

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Not-for-profit care home operator Anchor has reacted with dismay to the Department of Health’s announcement last week that the introduction of the £72,000 cap on what individuals and their families would have to pay for social care is to be delayed by five years.

Anchor chief executive Jane Ashcroft the charity hoped the lengthy delay was because the Government planned to urgently address how care is funded.

“This is a major issue for today’s older people as well as future generations,” said Ms Ashcroft.

“A delay of four years, until 2020, is outrageous and brings into question the future of care funding. Successive governments have failed to prioritise reform – despite the mounting crisis. This further delay suggests that social care reform is simply not a priority for government.”

A survey commissioned by Anchor has found that 71% of people aged over … Read More »

Posted on July 28th, by geoff in Caring Times. Comments Off on Living wage plan will put providers in deep financial trouble, says West Midlands Care Association

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Care home operators in the West Midlands say they face a bleak and uncertain future following living wage budget reforms announced by George Osborne. Debbie Le Quesne, chief executive of West Midlands Care Association (WMCA), which represents private sector care providers, warned the industry was at “breaking point.”

An impact survey by the association suggests any benefits found with reductions in Corporation tax – a fall to 19% in 2017 and 18% in 2020 – will not plug an ever-widening chasm between realistic operational costs and fees paid for care by local authorities. Under the Chancellor’s plans, workers aged over 25 will get a minimum of £7.20 an hour from April next year, rising to £9 by 2020. The Government says this will mean a direct pay rise for 2.5 million workers of an average of £5,000 by 2020.

Posted on July 27th, by geoff in Caring Times. Comments Off on Social care will need extra funding to meeting Living Wage costs, says independent think tank

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More than 700,000 care workers will benefit from the new ‘National Living Wage’ but social care will require extra funding to pay for it, says independent think-tank the Resolution Foundation.

The Foundation – which earlier this year called for and costed a plan to make social care a living wage sector – welcomes the new ‘premium’ minimum wage, which should make a big difference to low-paid care workers but says it will require significant new public investment in the social care sector, which has a very high proportion of low-paid staff and limited scope to absorb the higher wage costs through rising productivity.

Rising demand for care will also increase the pressure on staffing and wage costs. The analysis finds that the cost of meeting expected rises in the National Minimum Wage were already estimated to cost around a £1bn … Read More »

The consultation paper reviews the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (the DoLS) in England and Wales. the Law Commission’s Tim Spencer-Lane said its goal was to replace the DoLS with a straightforward and accessible legal framework which provided appropriate safeguards for people who lacked capacity whose care or treatment was becoming restrictive.

“The provisional proposals in the consultation paper represent the Law Commission’s initial view about how the law should be reformed,” said Mr Spencer-Lane.

“We are undertaking a wide consultation process to gather as many different views and to gain as much information as possible within the consultation period. We welcome responses from all interested parties.”

The consultation period runs from until 2nd November. The Law Commission will then review … Read More »

Posted on July 23rd, by geoff in Caring Times. Comments Off on Care Home Open Day grows in popularity

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Organisers say this year’s Care Home Open Day event, on Friday, June 19th, proved even more popular than ever, with more and more care homes signing up to take part across the world and more and more visitors turning up at care homes in their area.

With an extra 834 homes joining in for 2015, and creating a “Twitter Storm” across social media, more than 4,000 care homes across the globe collectively opened their doors to welcome in visitors and create long-term connections with their local communities.

This year’s themes of The Arts & Valuing Staff, really engaged local people, residents, their friends and families, as well as many local schools and other organisations, and encouraged them to get involved and come up with some fantastic ways to be creative and showcase their dedicated staff, who provide great care day-in … Read More »

Posted on July 19th, by geoff in Caring Times. Comments Off on Govt takes a raincheck on care cap – not a delay but an abandonment, says Lamb

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Following last week’s announcement that the Government is to delay the introduction of a £72,000 cap on social care costs until April 2020, former coalition government care services minister Norman Lamb described the move as an abandonment, not a delay.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s ‘Today’ programme on Saturday, Mr Lamb said that, if the Government was delaying now because of funding pressures, the funding pressures in 2020, under a system that was creaking already, would be worse.

“It’s gone, it’s abandoned,” said Mr Lamb. “I can envisage no circumstances in which a Tory government in 2020 will see it as a priority to fund this reform. It was only the Lib. Dems who got this through government. Now, as soon as the Tories are in government on their own, they abandon it.

Posted on July 16th, by geoff in Caring Times. Comments Off on Next five years will be crucial for care sector’s sustainability, says Care England

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Care England, the biggest representative body for independent social care providers, has published a report on the state of social care, warning of a collapse in the system if providers and commissioners do not work together and more nurses are not recruited into the independent sector. The report says the next five years will be crucial in ensuring that care and support services remain sustainable.

The association’s chief executive Professor Martin Green said , Chief Executive of Care England, said evolutionary rather than revolutionary changes were needed with different elements of the system working together rather than in silos.

“This positive vision attempts to define the contribution that the independent care sector can make to avert a major disaster for the NHS and Exchequer,” said Prof. Green.

“It makes very little sense to have dividing lines separating primary, hospitals and social … Read More »

Posted on July 9th, by geoff in Caring Times. Comments Off on Unfunded National Living Wage will put care services into crisis, says Care England

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Care England, which represents care providers, says the Chancellor must put more money into the care sector to fund his announcement of a National Living Wage.

The association’s chief executive, Professor Martin Green, said the care sector could not sustain an unfunded increase in labour costs.

“We have been calling for the Government to establish a Living Wage, but have underlined that this can only be done when the Government funds care properly,” said Prof. Green.

“In many areas, local authorities are funding older people’s residential care at a rate which works out to be about £3.301 an hour, and is totally unsustainable. With 60% of costs in staffing, the announcement of a significant increase in staff costs, will leave some businesses unable to survive.

“Care is a regulated sector, and so services cannot by law reduce staffing levels and this measure, … Read More »

Posted on July 2nd, by geoff in Caring Times. Comments Off on Nursing homes could be forced to close by ‘daft’ immigration rules

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A number of nursing homes in Wales could be compelled to close because of new UK Government rules on immigration, a social care chief has warned.

New legislation will force non-European workers to return home if they are not earning at least £35,000 after six years – and that will include well-qualified nurses working in social care.

According to Care Forum Wales (CFW), the body that represents the independent social care sector in Wales, it will lead to the loss of nursing home beds at a time when they are needed more than ever and could force some homes to close completely because of a shortage of trained staff.

CFW chair Mario Kreft said the Government would end up getting rid of well-qualified staff doing a good job and replace them with economic migrants without qualifications.

Posted on June 25th, by geoff in Caring Times. Comments Off on NICE publishes draft guideline on joined-up services

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The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published a draft health and social care guideline to help manage the complicated needs of adults being admitted to and discharged from hospital who are receiving or need support from social care. The focus of the guideline is on adults with health and social care needs – and who have or will need support from a range of practitioners such as family doctors, social workers, physiotherapists, or community nurses.

The draft guideline recommends ways to integrate effectively social care with medical support during transition to and from hospital. It addresses how services should work together and with the person, their family and carers, to make sure they are admitted for medical treatment in a timely way and spend no longer in hospital than is necessary.